Chaos and Disorder
by Kalana Fox
Summary: A festival celebration is held for a Princess, but disaster soon strikes and she is kidnapped. A silver hedgehog appears proclaiming Sonic an Iblis Trigger Who is he? What is this new threat Sonic and the gang will face?
1. Chapter 1

_**Chaos and Disorder**_

Oh no not ANOTHER fic in progress. Sorry folks, I can't help it ;;;;. Anyway, this fic is based on my ideas on how the new Next-Gen Sonic game might go. I've gathered as much information and facts I could possibly muster at this stage in development on the game and have sewed it all together to form my own idea. This is not necessarily how the game will go it is just my theory composed into a story.

Before I get started I would like to thank X-Shadow.Sin-X for his constant help in collecting game facts as well as helping me with a few plot decisions and starting points as well as wording certain passages. You're awesome Erik!

Now that all that's been said shall we get started?

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the story……and maybe a few secondary characters but otherwise everything else is copyrighted to SEGA/ Sonic Team.

* * *

"Attention people of Soleanna!" boomed the voice of a tall man in radiant white and gold robes. Everyone one in the water town stopped their daily bustle to turn their attention to their King. The citizens indoors likewise either stepped out or leaned their heads out the windows to listen and see.

"Tonight is the night of Worship. Worship to our glorious Sun, Ashiah. As you all well know Spring has come back to us after long months of darkness. For this ceremony my beloved daughter, Elise, will honorably initiate the blessing as all our past Princesses must do. I expect everyone to be there and enjoy the festivities. The festival will begin shortly and the ceremony soon after, you may return to your tasks until then." With that he turned from the assembled crowd and began to walk back to the palace with his guards. The Soleannaders likewise returned to their daily business.

The King and his guards quickly arrived at the Soleanna Palace where they were greeted by the Queen and Princess.

"Did you announce it, dear?" asked the petite woman who looked no older than forty-nine. She was dressed in the royal robes of white and gold but her crown was slightly smaller than the King's.

"Yes, Serena. Has everything been prepared for the ceremony?"

Serena nodded with a warm smile.

"Wonderful," the King turned his brilliant blue eyes to his young daughter. "Elise."

The Princess was attired in a long white dress that stopped a little above her knees. The top half of the dress above her breasts was slightly transparent. Around the chest area of the dress were two golden sashes outlined in black sewed into the fabric of the dress. Around her neck was a gold multi-beaded necklace with a gold holder in the front of it; inside this holder was a medium-small hexagonal shaped emerald. On her hands were long white gloves that extended a little above her elbow. The end of her dress was dipped in gold. An inch and a half above the gold color was a trim of gold, diamond-shaped plates sewed into the dress. She wore no tiara as most royalty would but to show she was the Princess her neck length, chestnut-brown hair was adorned with down feathers on the sides of her head. Her hair itself was neatly combed back and held together by a simple hairpin.

Elise straightened. "Yes, father?"

"We have two hours until the festival begins and an hour after before the ceremony starts. Until then you are free to travel the city as you like but you MUST take a guard with you." He commanded.

Elise struggled to keep her disappointed expression a smile. "As you wish, father."

The King turned to two of the guards that were behind him.

"Hamin, Yeko, watch over my daughter while I go rest up. Don't want to be tired for the ceremony, do we?"

The two guards nodded their heads in acceptance to their task.

"Very well, I'm off to refresh myself then."

With that the King sauntered gracefully off down the hall with the rest of the guards following him.

Elise turned to her mother. "I'm going to go explore the town now. I'll be back in time for the ceremony. I promise."

Serena nodded and watched Elise walk through the palace door to the pathway that led to the bridge into Soleanna. Serena turned to the guards.

"Make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Will do your ladyship, the Princess is safe with us." Yeko replied before they both bowed respectfully and went after Elise.

Meanwhile at the gates to Soleanna a familiar tall, blue hedgehog stopped just inside the gate. His emerald eyes wandered to survey his surroundings. In front of him was a gigantic pool of water that stretched from his end of the city to a temple-like building on an island on the other end. The temple itself was constructed with a huge bowl on the top of it and from the looks of it rectangle shaped. Two flat structures came out of the sides of a suspended platform in front of the temple. The structures soared up to tangle around the temple and branch out into smaller, ribbon-like branches that fed into the back of the large bowl. The round platform in front of the temple was made of polished stone and lined with a metal rail. At the end of the platform away from the temple were three polished stone steps. At the base of these steps was a smaller flat platform that fed into a railed bridge that ended with a platform on the water.

To either side of him and circling around both shores were buildings and homes of various sizes. Some of the roofs, particularly the Temple's, were triangular and very curved, like they were from feudal Japan. To his far left he could see a huge palace on an island out in the water. The island was connected to a small strip of land by a huge, wooden bridge. The other small strip of land connected to both shores by two smaller, railed bridges. The houses and town were strewn with various festival decorations. In some areas of the town merchants were lining their carts and wares up.

Sonic whistled slightly to himself in amazement. Big town, but even he had to admit it had an allure to it. From what he judged a festival of some sort was going to start, which was good; he needed a little break from adventure.

Elise wandered through the streets of the town, greeting people who greeted her. She had been wandering around the town for about an hour, looking at things people were setting out and just enjoying her free time before her need at the ceremony. The Princess stopped her formal walk when she saw a strange figure at the far end of the pathway. Curious she continued her walk over to the figure. Upon closer inspection she saw it was a blue hedgehog. The only one she saw in the whole city. It didn't look dangerous so when it noticed her she decided to make conversation.

"Hi there," she smiled softly. "My name's Elise. What's your name?"

The hedgehog looked up at her. He was no more than two inches smaller in height to her.

"Sonic. Sonic The Hedgehog." He responded straightening his back with pride for his name.

"Sonic? I think I've heard about you. Aren't you the same Sonic that has saved Earth countless times before?"

"The one and only, I just do what I can to keep peace." He replied proudly.

"Wow," Elise stated in awe. "It must be scary at times, isn't it?" She asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Not really. I'm fearless when it comes to protecting people."

Elise nodded in understanding.

"We're having a festival and ceremony to celebrate the rebirth of our Sun God, Ashiah. Will you stay and watch the ceremony? I'm going to be the one that asks for the blessing."

Sonic gave a trademark smile.

"Sure I'll stay. I need a little break from adventuring anyway."

Elise returned his smile.

"The festival starts in thirty minutes and the ceremony an hour after that. I look forward to seeing you."

Sonic nodded.

"Princess! Where are you?" Shouted the combined voices of Yeko and Hamin. The two guards were off in the distance searching the crowds for their charge that they had lost sight of.

Elise turned back to Sonic.

"I should probably be going. Very nice to meet you, Sonic Hedgehog." With that said she smiled once more at him then quickly ran off in the direction of the two guards.

'Guess I can just chill for now until the festival starts.' Sonic thought and continued to explore the huge city.

**The Future**

Fear, pain, sadness. Those were the emotions that held strongly to the air in the small underground community. The feelings were so thick you could almost smell and hear them. These feelings were always there, ever since it happened. Everyone, humans and furries, had fled to the only place they could be safe—underground. It was here that the generations after had known as home.

Pools of lava sprouted gigantic tornados of fire that stood erect for up to five days at a time. It was these tornados that spat bullets of fire and lava high into the air only to fall down as rain on the city ruin. The sky was blanketed with clouds of churning smoke and ash. The sun was rarely seen, sometimes for no more than five seconds.

Such was the condition of the world as it had been for the past one-hundred years.

"Silver! Silver!" rang a cry from one of the various halls in the underground community.

The silver head of a hedgehog quickly poked out of one of the many doors alongside the hallway.

"What?" the silver hedgehog asked with a slight hint of annoyance at being disturbed.

A gray fox with a furry black muzzle and underbelly made his way to the door, panting and out of breath.

"The-The elders want…to see you…now." He stated gloved hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Elon, it's five-thirty AM. What's so important it can't wait until a reasonable hour?" questioned the hedgehog.

The fox stood straight, his breath fully regained.

"Iblis has awakened again. I don't know what it's all about but from what everyone's been talking about it's related to Iblis."

Silver's amber eyes widened.

"Are…Are you sure?" He asked not really believing his ears.

Elon nodded.

"That's what the elders said. You should probably come as quickly as possible, they sounded urgent."

Silver nodded in understanding.

"Tell them I'll be right there, ok?"

The fox nodded and quickly ran back the way he came to deliver the message.

Silver ducked back into his room to put on his gloves and boots. He couldn't believe what he had been told. Iblis, of all things, awake again after three whole weeks?

'What's he going to demand this time?' Silver thought as he slipped on his boots and gloves.

He looked himself over in a mirror he had hanging on the wall next to his bed.

True to his name his fur was silver in color. His quills were parted into two big quills that hanged down behind him. On top of his head was a pair of trademark hedgehog ears. On his forehead were five quills that resembled an open palm. Tracing the outline of his eyes was a boldness of black. His eyes themselves were amber in color. On his chest was a clump of soft, white fur that curled around his neck at the top. On his back were two quills like all male hedgehogs usually have. His gloves were white with a gold sleeve that had a light green stripe engraved all the way around it. The back of the hands of the gloves had a light green circle on them. His boots reached a little below his knees. The top of the boots were gold with a similar light green stripe that his gloves had. Just below the gold cuff in the middle of both shoes was a red oval that had the tendency to glow every once in a while. His whole boot was black except for the tip which was dipped in green; a white stripe ran down the center of the boot stopping where black turned to green. The bottom part of the boot was outlined in white.

Deciding he looked fine he ran out the door and down a long, rocky corridor until he reached a four-way fork. Turning left upon reaching the fork he continued to run down the next corridor until he found himself at the opening to a huge living space. It was composed of three separate floors, a steady ramp of earth leading up and down to each floor. On all three floors were open doors leading into more corridors that housed more rooms. It was too early for many of the residents to be up so the space was almost empty, save a few animals and humans that were already up and about. Silver ran down the two ramps that were separating him and the bottom floor until his feet touched the hard earth of the bottom floor. As fast as he could run he bolted toward an entrance similar to the ones along the upper walls.

He slowed his run to a walk to catch his breath and steadily walked down the short hall into a slightly large, circular room. Against the far back of the room in a semi-circle sat five elderly animals, their backs resting against the smooth, rock walls of the cave. The middle one, an orange male echidna, leaned forward a bit upon Silver's entrance.

"Silver," he acknowledged in a raspy voice.

The silver hedgehog stopped a few feet in front of them.

"You called me, Thyer Orar?" he asked.

Orar nodded.

"Yes, it appears that Iblis is awake yet again. Early for that matter." He coughed for a minute before regaining normal breathing.

"Why is he awake so soon? It's only been three weeks! We don't have anything to offer him, not for another two weeks at least."

"I know, Silver, that is why we called you here at such an early hour."

Silver's ears perked up to show he was listening.

"As you know, you are the second of us born with The Power. I know you are still only training your powers but a crisis has arisen that requires your help."

"I'll do whatever I can to help, what's the problem?" Silver's interest was piqued.

"Not too long ago Mahre, your tutor, offered to go up and see what Iblis wanted. He's been gone for almost an hour and we're getting a little worried. That's why we called you here so early, we need you to go up and see if he's alright. With both of your powers you should be able to protect each other from harm." Orar coughed again.

"Thyer Orar, are you alright?" asked another elder, a sky blue rabbit.

"Yes, it's just a little throat trouble. I'm fine." He insisted. He turned his attention back to Silver.

"Please, Silver. Mahre is the only one here who has mastered The Power. We can't risk losing him."

Silver nodded.

"I'll go. Everything will be alright."

With that said he bowed politely to the elders and then quickly made his leave.

"Thyer Orar, are you sure it was wise to send him out there?" asked another elder.

"Yes, what if they both wind up dead, who will be able to save us then?" asked the rabbit.

"I have faith in him and Mahre. As long as they're together I know they'll be fine." Orar responded.

Silver made his way up the entrance tunnel. It was the only tunnel that led to the upper world. Well, besides the rarely used escape tunnel that was in case of big emergencies.

He walked for about five minutes up a slope in the earth until finally he was at an enclosed entrance. He raised his hand up as if he were telling someone to stop. Keeping his hand up he stared as hard as he could at the blockade before him. As he concentrated his hand began to glow with an outlining of iridescent green light. Soon following his hand the blockade became green as well.

Slowly inching his hand to the right the blockade began to roll to the right outside of the entrance. Silver continued to move his hand until the blockade had been moved far enough to allow him to squeeze through.

Once outside he turned back around and used his mind to move the boulder back into its original position. Once the tunnel entrance was hidden again he turned to look at his surroundings.

He was in what he assumed was once a giant field, maybe even a valley. The ground he stood on though was barren and cracked, save for a few patches of grass here and there. In the distance on both sides of him he could see dead and dying trees, some nothing but charred, black bodies. Above him the sky was covered by a thick blanket of gray and black clouds, he couldn't even see if it was day or night. Before him were ruined towers and buildings of what he was told was once a great city.

He heard a monstrous roar emit from the ruined city. Iblis.

Silver quickly sprinted as fast as he could toward the ruins, praying silently to the Gods that Mahre was ok.

He ran for ten minutes until he finally arrived at the edge of the city. Edging the battered metal gate open slightly he slipped in and continued running toward the source of the roar.

Finally he arrived at a large oval pool. Only instead of water, it was filled with lava and raised slightly off the ground. Standing in the center of the pool was a large beast made purely of lava. It had sharp green eyes that seemed to break through into your very soul. Patches of hard, molten rock covered its head and four arms as a type of armor. Horns covered in molten rock sprouted from its head.

This was Iblis.

Silver had always been told what Iblis looked like, but he had never seen the monster with his own eyes, until now of course.

Scanning the area around him frantically he searched for his jade mentor.

He cupped his hands around his mouth,

"Mahre! Mahre, where are you?" he shouted hoping Iblis was too busy to notice him.

"Silver! Is that you? I'm over here, quickly!" Came the response.

The silver hedgehog quickly ran towards the source of the voice until he was really close to Iblis.

In front of Iblis, using a psychic shield as defense, was a male hedgehog who looked to be in his mid thirties. He was jade in color but because of the special armor he wore he looked like he was almost carved from the semi-precious stone. His six quills were styled back behind his head and they were long enough to reach his mid back. His shoes and gloves were almost identical to Silver's except his gloves were black where they would've been white and his shoes were all black save for a golden stripe that went straight down the front of the shoe. His eyes were a light blue color.

Iblis roared and shot a blast of flames towards Mahre but the shield he had up deflected the blow.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned once Iblis ceased to regain energy.

"Thyer Orar sent me to come help you!" Silver responded.

Mahre frowned.

"I don't need help, Iblis is just being stubborn this time." He insisted

Silver pointed to Iblis.

"It looks like he's not tired yet but you do. So I'm going to help, whether you like it or not."

Mahre's frown deepened a little.

"In normal circumstances I would've punished you for talking to me like that, but you're right. Fine, you can help, just don't get yourself killed."

Silver nodded.

Iblis growled slightly and glared intently at the two hedgehogs.

"I get the feeling he's not too happy right now…"

"He's only ever happy when he gets what he wants. We have to try to weaken him somehow, but I don't know of any weak spots." Mahre informed.

Silver examined the lava monster, trying to pinpoint a weak spot. He noticed how parts of the monster started to become a part of the molten rock armor that protected his body, and then he got an idea!

"We should try to destroy his armor." Silver stated.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Mahre asked raising an eyebrow.

Silver noticed two boulders nearby and used his mind to pick them up.

"Like this."

Moving his hand in a throwing motion he hurled the huge boulders at the lava monster who raised an arm to try to block them. The boulders struck the rock on its arm and a few pieces cracked and fell to the lava pit below.

Iblis roared a little in pain but was still ready to fight.

Shrieking the monster faced Silver and readied itself for a flame blast.

During his attack Silver hadn't noticed he had backed up to the edge of the raised ground, he couldn't move anywhere.

Iblis sent a blast of flames his way but before they reached him Mahre ran in front and quickly put up a barrier, successfully deflecting the flames.

"That attack hurt him but not much, maybe we should aim for his head." The jade hedgehog suggested.

Silver nodded.

"But he blocks the attacks, how can we possibly make anything hit his head if he deflects the boulders?"

"I'll distract him on one side. When he attacks me, throw another boulder at him from the other side but make sure you hit his head." Mahre ordered.

"Got it."

When Iblis stopped the blast of flames to recharge some energy the two hedgehogs wasted no time to go to their respective positions.

Mahre put his hands together as if he were compacting a snowball. A small ball of psychic energy began to form in the space between his hands. When it was strong enough he used the hand that was holding it and hurled it at Iblis.

The attack didn't do very much damage but it was enough to get Iblis' attention.

Roaring angrily the lava monster turned towards Mahre and slammed a fist down at the jade hedgehog.

Mahre quickly jumped out of the way.

"Now, Silver!"

Obeying, Silver quickly grabbed the nearest boulder and swung it at Iblis. The boulder hit the center of the head armor and as a result it cracked and a few pieces fell to the ground.

Where the molten rock pieces had been was now a glowing emerald.

Iblis roared and shrieked in great pain.

The ground began to shake almost causing both hedgehogs to lose balance. The ground beneath them then began to crack.

"Um, Mahre, is that supposed to happen?" Silver asked a little nervous.

Mahre did his best to hide his fear.

"No, he's out of control, we have to stop him!"

"How are we supposed to do that?" Silver asked watching the lava pool rise a little.

"Quick, go to his left, I'll take his right. Concentrate on stopping his flailing."

Silver nodded and returned to his post.

Both hedgehogs then concentrated and each grabbed two of his arms.

Iblis glared menacingly at both of them and tried to break free of their telekinetic grasp.

"What should we do now?" Silver questioned trying to keep his side of Iblis under his control.

"Force him down! If we can get him under control maybe he'll go back to sleep!"

With that order Silver and Mahre both began to move their hands down in an attempt to force the lava monster down as well. Iblis, however, kept resisting making both hedgehogs sweat from the strain.

"He's…too…strong!" Silver managed to shout loud enough for Mahre to hear.

Mahre was having just as much difficulty.

"Keep trying, don't lose focus no matter!"

Silver returned to his concentrating. He kept trying to force Iblis down as did Mahre until…

Iblis broke free of their psychic grasp, sending a blast of their own energy into a shock wave which threw both hedgehogs back into the ruins.

Silver felt himself collide with something hard and massive then he fell to the ground below. He could hear Iblis' shrieks and roars but that was all he heard until he knew no more.

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And I'm gonna stop it there. Wow, I can not begin how long this chapter took me just to write. It's twelve freakin Word pages long, people! Just three pages short of my all time longest chapter record. But anyway, yes, this fic will be my version of what I THINK the story of Sonic Next-Gen will be like. This fic will be very long and I expect it to even still be going even after the game comes out. But if that happens (which it possibly might) I will still write on this fic regardless of if I get the game or not. I am not expecting to get an Xbox 360/PS3 anytime soon so I can play the game (360 will certainly be on my wish lists for birthday and Christmas). Over the time I will be writing this fic I will be fitting every possible and confirmed rumor I deem fit/reasonable into the story to fit as closely to what the game is expected or unexpected to be. As some people will have probably seen in this chapter I have already used the rumor of a fourth, jade colored hedgehog. And the other rumor that said hedgehog is the mentor of Silver.

I should probably just end this author note already; I will most likely try to limit author notes if I can but don't expect it. That's all I can really say, I hope anyone who took the time to read this chapter enjoyed it and please review, I like reviews. I will start on the next chapter as soon as I can, you can pretty much expect most of the chapters to be about as long as this chapter. Ok, shutting up now. Arigato and review, please!

Kalana Fox


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chaos and Disorder**_

Well, here's the second chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and again thank you to X-Shadow.Sin-X for your help in the fic. I hope everyone who enjoyed the last chapter enjoys this chapter.

Yes, the game is out, at long last. However, if you read my author note in the first chapter I said I'll write on this fic even after the game comes out. So now, this fic is officially "my version of the game". It's only going to be the idea I had before the game was released, but I won't stress as much to have it oh-so-close to the game itself, because then that'd be copyright infringement, wouldn't it?

Anyway, I hope anyone who has been reading the first chapter and wondering when the hell the second will get done will be happy with this chapter.

Alright, read and enjoy.

Note:

_Italicized_ thoughts

**Bold** emphasis of something/location and other crap

Normal normal writing

Disclaimer: Nothing but the story and any secondary character is mine (this includes Mahre). Mephiles/Merkez does not belong to me but I made a rough design of him long before his name or official looks were revealed therefore the way he looks is semi-copyrighted to me too, his non-official name also belongs to me as that name was given to him before his real name was revealed…and it's really hard now to call him "Mephiles", SO DEAL WITH IT!

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**The Future**

Silver groaned as he tried to sit up. _What happened?_

He used one elbow to prop himself up and rubbed the back of his head with his other hand.

Iblis was no longer out so the ruined city was dead silent, except for the sounds of the flame tornados whirling forever in place and the fire that crackled about.

The silver hedgehog looked around, trying to find his mentor. When this failed he groaned a little more trying to stand up; catching himself before his legs could give out.

When he had his balance again and his head hurt a little less he cupped both hands around his mouth,

"Mahre! Where are you?! C'mon, answer me, please!" He kept shouting out the jade hedgehog's name but was only met with the silence of no one but him.

Silver walked around some debris, trying to find some sign of his mentor. He searched for a few minutes until he heard a faint groan coming from his right. Quickly he ran towards it and found a very bruised and barely breathing Mahre. He quickly knelt down next to the older hedgehog to try to see what was damaged.

"Silver…" he managed to murmur loud enough for Silver to hear.

The silver hedgehog looked up from his inspection.

"It's useless. I'm not going to make it."

Silver's eyes widened, he was scared now.

"No, you're not going to die! I'll take you back to the UC, the medics there will be able to help! Please, don't die!" He tried to keep himself from crying but a tear did manage to escape.

He'd lost one set of parents before; he didn't want to lose another person who was like family to him.

"Even if you tried, I would die before you made it out the gates. Listen to me, Silver."

Silver sniffed slightly but turned his attention to his mentor.

"Your training isn't yet complete. There's still a lot more you can learn with your powers. I will no longer be able to teach you more, these skills you must learn on your own. I know you can do it." Mahre coughed a bit, spilling a little blood out of his mouth.

"You will not die! I'll make sure of it!"

"I can't stay any longer. Tell…tell the Thyers that I-I'm sorry…please." Mahre's eyes drooped a little.

Silver tried to pick him up, cursing the Gods for giving him telekinesis instead of healing powers.

Mahre's eyes fully closed now and after a few more seconds his body went limp against Silver's arms.

"Mahre?" Silver shook his mentor a little hoping he was just asleep. The jade hedgehog didn't stir or make any sound.

Silver cried a little more hugging his mentor's bruised body close to him. He felt lonely now. First his parents were killed by Iblis and now the only other person who actually felt like family was gone too.

He sniffed trying to make his tears stop. He gently placed the part of the jade hedgehog that he was holding back on the ground. Bringing his hands together and closing his eyes he silently mouthed a little prayer. When he was done he opened his amber eyes again and moved to stand up and look for something to dig with when the ground shook a little.

Silver quickly clung to a piece of debris that was buried into the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't Iblis this time; he was quite accustomed to the random shakes the planet was prone to in this time.

The ground continued to shake as Silver looked over to see if his mentor's body was ok. To his horror the quake was slowly inching the body closer and closer toward the edge of a pool of lava.

"No!" he cried out letting go of the debris to try and make a grab for Mahre but it was too late.

The jade hedgehog's body fell over the edge just as Silver managed to get close enough to the edge without fear of falling in himself. He felt new tears start stinging his eyes but he quickly wiped them away with the back of one of his hands while holding on to the debris with the other.

The quake finally calmed two minutes later and the silence of the dilapidated ruins clung to the air again.

Slowly he walked over to the edge and looked down into the giant chasm. No sign of Mahre. Looking to his right he saw a small, loose pole leaning limply against a piece of a fallen building. Silently he picked it up; the bottom edge was sharpened slightly from being snapped off wherever it originated from.

The silver hedgehog carefully and silently wrote in the ground just before the edge:

R.I.P

Mahre Hedgehog

With that done he laid the pole back near where it was and looked one last time at where Mahre had fallen in.

"Goodbye…" he whispered to the air before turning and walking away.

Iblis was no longer awake for the time being and Silver had a few minutes to spare before he knew people would come to search for them.

This was his first time actually being able to explore the city freely; maybe he could find something to bring back to the UC.

He walked underneath the top portion of a building that had fallen to become a bridge, held and supported by its bottom half and the top of another structure.

As he looked around he couldn't help but think that at one time this city had life. Looking at the fallen buildings and broken ground now, though, he couldn't imagine what this place must have been like before Iblis.

His ears perked at an odd sound. It sounded like…water. He'd heard the sound of water before but never outside the UC. This perplexed him, how could there possibly be water in a place that was literally in flames?

He listened closely trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Two yards southeast of his current location was where it seemed to be originating. He took off in that direction and used his ears as guidance. Soon it became louder and louder until it sounded as if he was right in the center of it.

Rounding another corner he stopped dead in his tracks. His mouth fell open slightly at the sight before him.

There, in front of him, untouched by the chaos that was evident in the area, was a small tower standing in the center of what looked like a lake; a small portion anyway. The lone tower was made of stone from what he could see. Below the cliff edge he was standing on he could see a sandy area with a bridge connecting from the small land area to a door area that led into the mysterious tower.

He didn't know why but somehow, whatever magic was behind the scene before him, this untouched place held not only a body of water but a sky that wasn't like the sky behind him. Though covered by a cloud, the sky in this small area wasn't thickly covered like the sky he was used to. The closely packed clouds weren't as black as the clouds of the rest of the city were either.

"Either the smoke is playing tricks on me or I've gone crazy." He commented to himself looking around the small area of untouched land.

The water's end met with the lava of the chaotic world yet it was almost as if the bubbling, red-orange goop was kept away from the area by some kind of force field. This perplexed the silver hedgehog even more. He wasn't directly standing in the area on the cliff he was on and truthfully he was a little wary of it.

If it was an illusion the area below him could possibly be another pit of lava. He wasn't about to take his chances and jump from where he was standing, but something about the tower made him want to explore it.

Next to his feet he saw a small rock, barely the size of his palm. Picking it up and tossing it up and down he stood a moment in thought. If this was truly an illusion, it was better for a rock to fall in than him. He quickly threw the stone as far as he could into the untouched area and listened for its contact with the water.

**Splash**! That was all the proof he needed. Stepping back a bit he closed his eyes and held his arms out to his sides, palms facing up. He pictured his surroundings and the area of sand beneath him, adding every detail he could. He placed himself in his mind's eye and slowly imagined himself lifting up, an aura of sea-foam surrounding him. As he felt himself lifting up he pictured moving off the cliff edge and slowly descending down towards the sandy strip and bridge. He didn't open his eyes until he fully pictured himself safely landing on the beginning part of the bridge and felt his feet make contact with the smooth, ivory stone.

He gazed up at the tower which now stood a lot higher than it had when he was on the cliff.

"What could possibly be in there?" He asked no one in particular.

_Only one way to find out._ He thought to himself.

Fueled by curiosity and a desire to see more of something that was a sigh of relief to the hell-world that lie just outside the shield of the mysterious place, Silver ran down the long bridge until he reached a rather large, wooden door. An open window with four vertical iron bars laid a small jump-high height on the door.

The door looked heavy and Silver wondered if it was even worth risking breaking his back to try to open it.

"I wonder…" he thought aloud to himself.

Focusing his thoughts he held his hand out towards the iron obstacle and imagined the two bars in the center bending out to the side. As he focused the bars did just as his mind willed until they were far apart enough to form a hole, just big enough for him to squeeze through.

Jumping up he grabbed the bottom of the bars and pulled himself up and through the small window; landing on the mosaic floor on the other side.

Looking around the inside of the tower was far bigger than it had appeared on the outside. The walls were made of white marble just as he had seen on the outside. Light came in from windows along the top and middle portion of the structure through which he could see the clouds outside. The floor was a mosaic of a green Chaos Emerald that took up almost the entire floor. To his right was the base of a grand staircase that was built into the side of the tower, spiraling up and it wounded around the outer edge walls between the room and the walls leading outside.

The room was very bare which puzzled the silver hedgehog.

"What is this place?" he asked aloud, his voice echoing slightly.

He walked over to the grand stair case and looked up until it curved a corner where he could no longer see it.

"Guess the only way to answers is up."

Warily he began climbing the staircase, unsure of how old it really was. After a while of no creaks or pieces falling off he grew a little more comfortable with the stairway and continued to tread up them.

After what seemed like ages he finally reached the top, his legs a little tired. The narrow passageway opened up to yet another room but unlike the bottom room, this space was at the very top of the tower.

The walls of this area were made of white marble just like the rest of the tower, but this room was considerably smaller than the downstairs one.

Unlike the space below, however, this room was furnished, though still bare in comparison. The only piece of furniture in this room was a single altar-like sculpture made of stone. On the wall behind it was a mural, aged but still seeable. The mural depicted a golden hedgehog with seven emeralds of different colors surrounding him. On his left was a girl who looked as if she was royalty, and on his right was the fire monster, Iblis.

As Silver stepped toward the altar he examined the mural some more. There was no writing so he couldn't tell what was going on but as he reached the object he noticed that resting upon the smooth top was a scroll.

"What's this?" he asked picking it up and unrolling it.

The scroll was worn and yellow-orange from age but the writing could still be read.

"A wind streaked by blue will collide with the royalty of fire. Upon the essence of seven emeralds, an apocalypse will emerge." The silver hedgehog recited. "What is this?" he asked aloud.

_I should show this to the Thyers…_He thought.

Looking about the room and at the mural one last time he spun around and began his long trek back down the stairs.

Some time later he finally found himself back on the cliff edge. He gazed back at the tower, still preserved in its little area from the chaos that raged on behind him.

Shaking his head he looked down in his hand at the scroll before tightly clutching it. Silently he began to walk in the direction of the ruin gates.

He suddenly stopped and scanned the area slowly with his eyes. He had the feeling someone was watching him, but who? The presence didn't that accompanied the feeling didn't seem like it was someone from the UC, yet it felt oddly familiar.

His ears perked at the sound of the dirt shifting behind him causing him to whirl around quickly in time to see the last remnants of an indigo spark disappear; the feeling disappearing upon the departure.

"Who was that?" he wondered before shrugging it off and continuing his journey back to the UC.

Later he arrived back at the boulder which he promptly pushed aside with his mind before returning it to its position upon entering the cave.

Walking down the path he started to tread down the slanted walkway to the bottom floor of the central chamber. Along the way a few of the residents he passed stopped to talk amongst themselves, a few wondering where Mahre was. Hearing those questions, Silver tried hard to keep his face from turning downcast.

Finally he made it to the Thyers' cave. Looking in he called,

"Thyer Orar?"

He listened for a response.

"Come in, Silver."

Silver walked into the dimly lit cave until he was before the five elders for a second time in a day.

"Has he been quelled?" Thyer Orar asked in his raspy voice.

The hedgehog nodded.

"Yes, I don't know for how long but he's asleep again."

"Good…" the echidna looked around for a moment before looking back at Silver. "Where is Mahre?"

Silver looked down slightly.

"He's…He's um…" he tried hard to say the word but it kept getting caught in his throat.

The Thyer sighed sadly, "He's gone, isn't he?"

Silver said nothing but nodded in conformance.

"His life here will not be forgotten, I'm sure even now he is with your parents, watching over you at this very moment."

"Yeah…" Silver murmured.

The Thyers were silent for a while until Thyer Orar noticed the scroll Silver still clutched in his hand.

"What is that?" he asked the hedgehog.

Silver looked at the scroll, he had almost forgotten about it.

"I found this in the ruins. It was in some kind of tower but…….I don't know, that small area where it was must have been guarded by some force field; because there was water in that area, the lava didn't even touch it!"

"Really, now? May I see the scroll?"

"Of course, Thyer." Silver handed the aged parchment to the echidna who upon receiving it rolled it out and scanned it with his ancient, blue eyes.

"Hmm, there appears to be a prophecy of sorts on here," Scanning some more he paused "and a chant that apparently allows one to go back in time."

"Go back…in time? Prophecy? I don't get it." Silver stated.

"This prophecy was apparently written long before our world became this way. Perhaps…"

He paused to think for a moment.

"Silver, was there anything around this scroll? A drawing perhaps?"

"Yes, there was a mural above the altar where the scroll was resting. It had a blue hedgehog surrounded by these weird rocks and a girl in a white dress on it. It also had a depiction of Iblis." He replied, remembering the mural.

"I see. Tell me Silver, how much do you want to save our world? To rid Iblis' flames from the land and restore light to our parched and destroyed planet?"

"Orar, you can't possibly mean to send him-" the sky blue rabbit from before spoke up but was cut off.

"That is for him to decide."

Silver thought for a moment then looked at the oldest Thyer.

"If there's something that can be done to save our world from its current fate, I'll do whatever it takes to save it."

Orar nodded.

"Then are you alright with me sending you back in time?" he asked.

"If it will help our world then I will, what would you like me to do?"

"Then so be it. From what this mural you saw shows and this prophecy states, that blue hedgehog and girl are the ones who caused this catastrophe. I will send you back with this chant to that time; do whatever it takes to stop them, even if it means killing one of them."

"Orar are you sure that's a wise choice? What if he kills the wrong person? More importantly, is there another way to be rid of the problem than to just kill the ones responsible?" asked a Thyer, an old purple hedgehog.

"Hmmm...you're right, I'm sorry. Silver, when you arrive in the past try to find out what exactly these two people did to cause Iblis to awaken. If those gems are involved then try to stop the hedgehog or the girl from collecting them. If keeping them from that fails, only then should you eliminate one of them. Understood, Silver?" Orar asked looking at the young hedgehog with a fierce expression.

"Understood, Thyer."

"Then we will begin." He slowly stood up, a bit shakily but he managed.

"Close your eyes and concentrate on every word I am about to read, wrap your mind around each word do not let anything distract you. Ready?"

"Yes." Silver confirmed closing his eyes.

The Thyer held the scroll up and began to read,

"O Fabric of Time, heed my words  
Hear my thoughts ringing through your folds

Grant me passage through your rainbow  
So that I may travel where you have gone."

As the chant was recited Silver did as the eldest Thyer had told him. As he did so, his body began to be surrounded by an orb of rainbow light, slowly making him fade away. When the chant was done nothing was left of Silver except for the faint remnants of the rainbow light which slowly faded away until there was nothing but air.

As Orar sat back down in his spot with the scroll still in hand the rabbit turned to him.

"You're sure he's up for it? If Iblis didn't kill him why would you send him to another place where he could die?" she asked.

"With Mahre gone, the hope for salvation lies with Silver, whether he wants it or not. He accepts his duty as the only one left who can save us, and the only way to save us is for him to stop this disaster from ever happening."

**Meanwhile…**

Rivers of lava slithered through the cavern, bubbling and popping as they fed to the outside world. From these rivers emerged hideous beasts of various forms morphed of the very lava they came from and armored with the same rocks as the very creature they were born from.

The cavern had some patches of rock that led to the beast responsible for the ruins above. Along this rock path ran a black hedgehog.

He had a purple stripe running down from his top quill to the middle of his forehead, at the point of which were two small triangles on each side of the point. His ears were slender and jagged in two spikes at the end, the tip of each ear colored purple. His eyebrows had three spikes of purple fluff that rested behind each eyebrow. His three middle quills pointed downwards, split in two at the end and tipped in purple like his ears. His two bottom quills were longest and reached his hip before curving outwards and up. These too were split at the ends and tipped purple. On his chest was a clump of white fur spiked in two at each side and ending in another point at the bottom. Three smaller pieces of fur stuck out in the middle. His gloves were black, like the rest of him, with purple cuffs that were spiked balls of fluff (Author Note: Think Blaze's cuffs, but a little more wild and spikier). His feet were covered by a pair of purple boots that separated into five spikes where a normal cuff would have been.

Slowing to a jog he stopped before the gigantic lava beast and bowed ever so slightly.

_What did you find?..._ It wasn't so much as a spoken question but rather a telepathic resonance that echoed as if it had been spoken. The gurgle-like voice belonged to the flame creature.

"The hedgehog has found the scroll. I suspect he took it back to those elders and by now they're doing something with it." The black and purple hedgehog replied.

_I see…If anything they will wish to use that Time Chant inside the scroll to attempt to stop me from ever creating this world._

"That's preposterous, sire! How could they ever hope to stop you by saying a few words and blinking back in time?"

_They indeed can…because they have figured out the ones responsible for my…awakening._

"No, that's imposs-"

_He saw the mural…If I could've only touched that area I would've destroyed it long ago…But alas…_

"Is there something you would like me to do, master?"

_Yes, before I fall into another slumber because of that cursed Power, I will use a bit of my power to send you back to that same time. You must find that silver one as quickly as possible; prevent him from stopping the blue hedgehog at all costs. If anyone stands in your way, kill them. Is that understood, Merkez?_

"Understood, master."

_Good…_

Iblis raised one of his four arms and formed a ball of indigo light that sparked in and out periodically with a flash light.

_Do your mission well, or else, well…you know where you would be should he stop me…_

"I know…" muttered the hedgehog as the ball of dark energy flew toward him, stopping in front of him and expanding until the orb fully surrounded him. Within seconds he was gone and the orb quickly deflated until there was nothing left of it.

**Present Time**

Fireworks of every color imaginable soared up into the sky and exploded into dazzling masterpieces. Sonic took this as a cue that the ceremony would soon start. The blue hedgehog silently ran to where people were gathering in large groups around the gigantic pool.

Squeezing through the crowd he stopped when he came to the front so he could see well.

From the far side of the pool opposite the palace appeared a boat that carried Elise who was near the back and two tan-cloaked figures near the front.

On the bottom, near the back of the boat, were paddles that propelled the boat across the water. Just above that were five white flags, one in the back and four in the middle section of the floating object. White markings collected outside the wood. The front of the boat ascended from the bottom to end with a point.

The boat slowly but steadily sailed across the dark waters until finally coming to the little dock just before the temple.

Elise, clothed in the same dress he saw her in earlier, walked proudly with her back straight toward the two men.

As the boat came to a stop the men stood up and lead Elise up the dock stairs and onto the large platform in front of the Temple.

The men stopped to stand at the back of the platform while Elise walked to the front, closest to the temple.

She stopped a step or two in front of the finely crafted railing. Everyone silenced as they watched her. Slowly she turned so she could face most of the people of Soleanna who watched from the shores. She fixed her gray eyes on the oldest red cloaked man that was in the center of the three. He nodded sagely to her, signaling she may start now.

Elise cleared her throat silently and spoke loud enough for most of the people to hear her but clearly so they could understand her.

"Tonight, we will lift our praises and blessings up to Ashiah. The Season of Prosper has returned at long last and the cold months of the Season of Frost have subsided. New flowers of hope will bloom this year as we take time to better ourselves for the many years to come. Let us give thanks to Ashiah and may he hear our praises and act upon our blessings."

Everyone clapped for a moment as the Princess turned gracefully back to face toward the temple. Everyone immediately hushed again and ceased clapping as their eyes watched their Princess.

Elise clasped her hands together and as if in unison some of the people bowed their heads while others continued to watch.

The fair Princess looked up at the temple and closed her eyes. With the same loud but clear voice she gave her blessing,

"Sun of Soleanna, guide and watch over us with your Eternal Light…"

As soon as she said those words the beams that encircled the platform and the temple flared to life with narrow flames that lined their edges. The flames danced along the beams in brilliant unison until they all met at the top of the temple and birthed a blazing flame in the bowl.

When the bowl became ignited everyone watching from ashore cheered and clapped. Elise turned to smile and wave at some of the children who were watching. She smiled and waved when she saw Sonic and he gave her his signature thumbs up and smile.

Fireworks began to go off again to celebrate the ending of the ceremony. In the midst of the brilliant showcase no one was aware of the approaching doom.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, everything was engulfed by flames. No one knew what was happening, there was chaos everywhere. The temple was smashed into a pile of lumber, the buildings that had been lit just moments before stood as tall, dead and flaming ruins now. A few of the towns people were still alive, Elise included.

The three men that had accompanied her were lying motionless on the ground behind her. She wept silently and prayed for their souls to be at peace.

She looked to see that a small bridge of wood from the temple now connected the platform at a place where the railing had been blasted off to a clearing on the main shore surrounding the lake.

Carefully she crossed this bridge to the mainland, two villagers stepping forward to help her.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked one of the villagers when she found a group of them.

A woman nodded and bowed slightly.

"We are all fine, your Highness, a few of us just have a few injuries. Are you alright, my Princess?"

"Yes, thank you." Elise responded searching the group of villagers to see if she could find Sonic.

Her search was halted by the sound of jets and metal moving behind her. She slowly turned around to see what it was, a slight fear in her heart at who she thought it was.

As she looked up at the hovering metal craft that slowly descended to a spot a few steps in front of them the fear in her heart grew as she realized it was indeed who she thought it was.

Dr. Eggman.

* * *

THANK GOD! That took me forever, not just because I was lazy and laid it off for a few days but the sheer amount of writing XX. Hmmmm, kinda made a cliffy in Silver's part, ah well, I needed to have a small introduction for Merkez in this fic, but he won't be reappearing until chapter 4 or 5. I'm really, really, REALLY sorry to people who may have waited months for this but here it is! It's 14 pages long so I hope everyone who had been waiting will like it. I'll try to be as quick as possible with chapter 3, but like this one and the first chapter, it tends to take me a while to finish a chapter.

Kalana Fox


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